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Coton de Tulear Dog Breed Introduction
Coton de Tulear( nicknamed Coton) is a Bichon Type of dog that originated from Madagascar, an Island in Africa. This dog gets it’s name from it’s cotton-like coat and it is also named for the city of Tulear in Madagascar. Cotons are popular for cavorting, following their favorite human around the house, clowning, and walking on their hind legs. The primary role of the Coton is providing companionship, comfort, and amusement. It is a low to non-shedding breed that produces less dander hence regarded hypoallergenic. However, there is no truly hypoallergenic breed. This breed shades when the puppy coat is transitioning to an adult coat.
Coton de Tulear Origin | History
The origin of Cotons is explained in a fanciful tale of a shipwreck off the port of Tulear in Madagascar and how a cargo of little white dogs swam ashore to safety. These dogs mated with the local pooches to create the Coton. These lapdogs were the preferred dogs for the nobles of Madagascar. The aristocrats of the island were protective of their lapdogs that they even passed laws that prohibited the ownership of Cotons by commoners.
They were also reluctant to allow any of these dogs to leave the island. Therefore, Cotons were isolated from the rest of the world breeding true for centuries. However, the this breed was discovered by French tourists in the 1960s. The dog was a hit in Europe where it was selectively breed into the modern Coton. The first Cotons de Tulear were registered with AKC in 2014.
Coton de Tulear Life Span | Life Expectancy
A Coton is a long lived breed that has a life span of 15 to 19 years.
Coton de Tulear Grooming
Prepare a Coton de Tulear for a positive grooming process from puppyhood by getting it accustomed to touch on the feet, ears, back, and tail. This dog has a profuse and dense coat that has a cotton-like texture. The coat requires daily brushing or at least 3 or 4 brushings per week to prevent matting and tangling. The number of brushings per week reduces if the dog has a puppy cut. Always spritz the coat with a spray conditioner before brushing to prevent hair breakage.
If the mats or tangles are present, spritz with a detangling spray before working on the tangles gently using your hands. Use a pin brush and a wide-toothed comb all the way to the skin while brushing or else the hair near the skin will mat. If the matting is too extensive the dog may need to be shaved down. Cotons require a bath every 1 to 3 weeks depending on the lifestyle of the dog. Before bathing the dog, always brush the coat first to remove dirt and mats.
The matting tends to get messier when the coat is wet. Use a hypoallergenic shampoo to wash the coat and moisturize individual strand using a conditioner. After a bath, thoroughly rinse of the cleaning products from the skin to prevent skin irritation. Clean the eye corners on a daily basis using canine wipes or a clean damp washcloth. Trim the nails every 2 weeks using nail grinders or trimmers to prevent overgrowth, splitting, and cracking.
Overly grown nails are painful for your dog while walking or running. Brush the teeth of a Coton at least twice a week if not daily using a tasty canine toothpaste and toothbrush to prevent tartar buildup. Clean the ears on a weekly basis using cotton balls and an ear cleanser solution to remove debris or excess wax. While cleaning the ears, look out for odor, dark discharge, and redness that are common signs of dog’s ear infection.
Coton de Tulear Haircut | Grooming Styles
Depending on the budget of the owner and the weather that the Coton lives in, it can utilize the following haircuts or grooming style:
Puppy Cut – To achieve this hair cut, the groomer trims the hair on the coat to a length of about 1 to 2 inches while leaving the hair on the face and tail a little longer.
Teddy bear cut – This grooming style is suitable for owners who want their pets to have a teddy bear look. To achieve this haircut, the fur on the face is trimmed in a circular shape to give it teddy bear looks whereas the fur on the body is trimmed to a length of 2 inches.
Summer cut – This is the preferred grooming styles for summer months. The hair on the body is clipped to a length of one inch.
Full Coat – This haircut celebrate the full length of the cotton-like coat. It requires daily brushing to prevent matting and tangling.
Coton de Tulear Shedding
A Coton De Tulear is a low to non-shedding dog. However, it sheds profusely while the puppy coat is transitioning to an adult coat from the age of 8 to 15 months.
Coton de Tulear Coat
The Coton has a fluffy, medium to long coat that has a cotton-like texture. The coat is considered hair rather than fur.
Coton de Tulear Hypoallergenic
A Coton de Tulear is considered a hypoallergenic dog breed. This is because it has a low to non-shedding coat. It is also a small-sized dog that produces less dander. However, there is no truly 100% hypoallergenic pure breed or crossbred. Therefore, pet parents should spend lots of time with a particular Coton before adopting to determine whether the dog is hypoallergenic.
Coton de Tulear Training
A Coton de Tulear is an intelligent, affectionate, and playful breed that is eager to please making it easily trainable. Although, it is naturally territorial and alert. Therefore, they require early socialization from a young age so that they can enjoy going with you whenever you go. Socialization training starts from the age of 3 weeks while the dog is with the breeder until the age of 16 weeks after the dog has already settled in its new home.
To socialize a Coton, expose it to a wide variety of people, places, animals, surfaces, sight, situations, sights, and sounds such as baby crying sounds, vacuum cleaners, sirens, washing machine, lawn mowers, and sirens. Enrolling a Coton in puppy classes will also serve as a form of socialization. These classes allows canines to interact in a controlled environment.
Puppy classes also empowers the pet parents to not only identify and correct bad habits but also have access to training information and assistance. Use positive reinforcement methods to encourage positive behavior through the use of treats, toys, verbal praise, petting, and play time. Avoid use of harsh correction methods such as yelling, shoving, or kicking the dog. This strains the relationship between the pet and the owner.
Keep the training sessions short, challenging, and fun for a span of 5 minutes distributed throughout the day to avoid boredom and distraction. A bored Coton is not able to learn anything. Start teaching basic commands words like come, stay, sit, lie down, leave it, heel, etc. one at a time until the pet is well-acquainted before proceeding to the next command word.
Pet owners are cautioned against issuing a command word while too excited or frustrated since it does not sound the same to the pet. Effectively housebreak a Coton de Tulear by creating a feeding schedule, potty training, and crate training.
Coton de Tulear Potty Training
A Coton de Tulear is an intelligent dog that is eager to please which makes potty training relatively easy. Before bringing this pet home, the owner should decide whether the pet should eliminate inside or outside especially for apartment dwellers who have a hard time accessing the street or yard. Indoor potty training utilizes puppy pads and litter boxes that are available for retail from the puppy store.
Owners are cautioned against teaching the pet to eliminate inside if they will eventually want the dog to eliminate outside and vice versa. This may cause a relapse in housebreaking since the pet does not understand whether it should eliminate inside or outside. A designated toilet area for outdoor potty training should be far from the BBQ spot or patio deck.
The rule of thumb when potty training is understanding that the bladder and bowel muscles of a puppy strengthens as the puppy matures. A Coton is a small-sized dog hence will go for more potty breaks as compared to medium or large-sized dogs. Therefore, an 8 week-old Coton should go for potty breaks every 1 hour and a 12-week-old Coton should go for potty breaks every 2 hours.
While potty training, a crate has proven to be an indispensable tool. This is because it enables the owner to closely monitor the dog for signs that it wants to eliminate such as sniffing, circling, squatting, restlessness, whining, and trying to lift a leg against the crate wall. To get positive outcomes when potty training, immediately take a Coton to the delegated toilet area after your bring it home from the breeder, immediately it wakes up, every 1 to 2 hours, after naptime, 20 minutes after meals and drinks, following an exciting activity such as a car ride and playtime, and before bed time. However, after the age of 8 months the Coton should go for potty breaks every 6 hours.
When you get to the delegated area, utter the command word ” toilet” or ” potty” to give the dog the cue to eliminate. Avoid interchangeably using the two commands word even if they mean the same to avoid confusing your dog. Remain in the toilet area for a period of 15 minutes to allow the dog to relax the bladder and bowel muscles for a pee or poo. If the pooch fails to eliminate, return it in the elimination spot after a period of 20 to 30 minutes.
Before a dog is fully housebroken, it should not roam around the house freely to minimize accidents. However, if you get you pet in the act, clap your hands to distract it before taking it to the designated toilet area. Once it relieves itself, give it a reward so that it may associate the area with elimination. Avoid yelling or putting the nose of the dog against the mess.
Clean the accident spot using an iodine solution or an enzymatic detergent to completely get rid of the odor. If regular cleaning detergents are used, the odor is retained. Therefore, the dog will eliminate in the same accident spot if it sniffs. Before the age of 16 weeks, parents should set an alarm to take the pet to the delegated toilet area at least once a week.
Coton de Tulear Temperament | Personality | Traits
- Intelligent.
- Affectionate.
- Playful.
- Vocal.
- Curious.
- Friendly.
- Outgoing.
- Eager to please.
- Easily trainable.
- Versatile.
- Alert.
- Territorial.
- Charming.
- Gentle.
- Sociable.
Coton de Tulear Exercise Needs
The Coton requires moderate amount of exercise in form of daily walks at a slow speed and chasing a tennis ball around the backyard. If not exercised, Cotons become bored, unhappy, and destructive. A Coton de Tulear thrives when provided with enough exercise, plenty of toys to play with, and lots of attention from the owner.
Coton de Tulear Barking
The Coton is a vocal breed that grunts, barks, and make other noises when having fun.
Coton de Tulear Height
According to AKC, a female Coton has a height of 9 to 10 inches ( approx. 23 to 25 cm ) while its male counterpart has a height of 10 to 11 inches ( approx. 25 to 28 cm).
Coton de Tulear Weight
Male Cotons have a weight of 9 to 15 pounds ( approx. 4.08 to 6.8 kg ) while female Cotons have a weight of 8 to 13 pounds ( approx. 3.63 to 5.9 kg ).
Coton de Tulear Size
This is a small-sized Bichon type of dog that has a height of 9 to 11 inches ( approx. 23 to 28 cm ) and a weight of 8 to 15 pounds ( approx. 3.63 to 6.8 kg ).
Coton de Tulear Eye Problems
The Coton is a relatively healthy breed. Although, some may be affected by progressive retinal atrophy(PRA). This is a group of degenerative diseases that affect photoreceptors eventually leading to blindness.
Coton de Tulear Health Issues
The breeders of Cotons have worked diligently to keep the breed free of genetic diseases by screening all the breeding stock. However, this is not to say that Coton de Tulears are not affected by some of the health issues but the incidences are extremely low. Some of the health issues that may affect Cotons include spinal disc disease, luxating patella, skin allergies, progressive retinal atrophy, and hip dysplasia.
Coton de Tulear Names
The Coton parent may decide to get a name for the dog before it joins them home from the breeder or a few days after the dog joins them home to better understand the personality of a particular dog. Owners may get name inspirations of the dog from their heritage, coat color, personality, celebrity Cotons, movies, books, songs, historical figures, and nature.
Regardless of where the pet parent will source the name, he or she should ensure that the name chosen freely rolls off his or her tongue and will not make them embarrassed when the name is uttered out loud in the public places. Cotons and other dog breeds better understand a name that has vowels.
Avoid giving your pet a name that rhymes with a command word to avoid confusion. If a pet parent settles with a long name, they should purpose to find a cute nickname for the pooch. If a Coton shares a name with any family member or guests who frequent the home, it may cause unnecessary confusion. Some of the names that Coton owners give to their pets include:
- Frosty.
- Snowy.
- Cotie.
- Pumpkin.
- Buster.
- Bonbon.
- Rocky.
- Minnie.
- Rocky.
- Sadie.
- Betty.
- Heidi, etc.
Coton de Tulear Colors
The most common coat color of a Coton is white. However, some may be white with tan markings, tricolored, or having a black and white coat. The tan and white markings may become all white while the blacks will often fade to white or grey.
Coton de Tulear Food
The amount of food that Cotons feeds on depend on their age, activity level, metabolism, size, and body build. Puppies tend to have a high metabolism rate as compared to adults and seniors. Therefore, Coton pups eat small portions of food 3 or 4 times a day from when they start weaning until the age of 6 months. From the age of 6 months, a Coton feeds on a total of two meals in a day for the rest of their lives.
A Coton de Tulear may feed on a raw diet, home made, dry food, or wet food depending on the budget of the owner and the time of preparation needed. Regardless of the food that the pet feeds on, owners should ensure that a Coton feeds on the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, fats, amino acids, and fatty acids to maintain a healthy bone structure and weight. Fresh water should be available for your fur baby at all times.
If the dog is feeding on dry or wet commercial food, owners should ensure that the first three listed ingredients are proteins from a well-known source. Commercial food should neither have meat by-products, fillers, preservatives, chemicals, additives, nor generic meat products. Feed a Coton with formulated dry or wet food for small-sized puppies, adults, and seniors depending on its age. Check the physique of your fur baby to tell whether it is underweight or overweight.
The dog is underweight if the ribs are visible. However, if the ribs are not visible but can be felt without pressing hard, a Coton de Tulear has an ideal weight. Although, if the ribs cannot be felt after pressing, the dog is overweight and should be exercised. Owners who want to switch to another pet food should gradually do this over a period of one month by mixing old food with new food. As the week progresses, the amount of old food decreases as the amount of the new food increases until the Coton is only feeding on the new food.
Apart from Coton de Tulears, other dog breeds include:
Coton de Tulear Allergies
A Coton de Tuler may be affected by various forms of allergies as discussed below:
Food allergies – Although rare, a Coton may suffer from food allergies that result to an immune response that is normally accompanied with a wide range of issues including skin issues such as hives, sores, dermatitis, lesions, and pruritus as well as gastrointestinal stress such as vomiting, diarrhea, bloating, and weight loss.
Skin allergies – A Coton may suffer from skin allergies due to food, contact, and environmental allergies that manifest on the skin.
Contact allergies – This allergy causes inflammation to the skin once it comes in contact with the allergen. Some of the contact allergens that affect Cotons include lawn chemicals, plastics, bed linens, latex, medications, grooming products, and carpet cleaning detergents.
Environmental allergies – One of the environmental allergens that affect Cotons include fleas. This parasite causes flea allergy dermatitis that results to intensive scratching and biting until the skin around the bite area ( usually back legs and underneath the tail) is raw. Other environmental allergies that affect Cotons include mites, trees, pollen, grass, ragweed, dust and dust mites, and house molds.
Coton de Tulear Tail
A Coton has a long tail that reaches the hock. When the dog is at rest, the tail is carried below the hock and the tip is raised. While in motion, the tail is carried happily.
Are Coton De Tulear Hypoallergenic
Yes. Coton de Tulear have a low to non-shedding coat that produces little dander hence regarded hypoallergenic. Although, there is no truly allergy friendly purebred or crossbreed. Therefore, pet parents are urged to spend lots of time with a particular dog before adopting to ensure it does not trigger their allergies.
Are Coton De Tulear Smart
Yes. Coton De Tulear are smart dogs that are eager to please and easy to train.
Are Coton De Tulear Rare
Yes. Coton De Tulear is fairly a rare breed that was registered with AKC in 2014. Cotons are also being revived from extinction meaning that they are rather expensive to purchase.
Quick Facts About Coton de Tulear
- They have an allergy friendly coat hence considered hypoallergenic.
- Cotons love to jump up and walk on their hind legs to please people.
- They are vocal dogs that bark, grunt, and make other noises when having fun.
